BootsnAll Travel Community

Have you ever been to a Casino in another country? Did you play? Table games? If you didn't speak the language, how was that?

I've been considering a stop at one on my next trip, and am curious to see what peoples' experiences were like. The thought of playing craps in some foreign Casino is pretty thrilling but also a bit intimidating. Is it even realistic to think of playing when you don't know the language? Obviously it differs by country, but are there any laws for foreigners that I should be aware of?

I've been to a few, but I think it really depends on which country you are thinking about, and which neighborhood the casino is in.

Some casinos attract loads of tourists and their business would suffer if they made English-only speakers feel uncomfortable. Other casinos are in non-tourist parts of town and may be less forgiving to foreign tourists.

Where are you thinking about going?

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that.

I'll be in Central & Eastern Europe. I was thinking maybe Slovenia or Austria for the casino... I also might be in Hungary or Slovakia so those are options too.

Okay, we'll have to wait for someone with expertise on those spots to come along because those could go either way.

I've been to casinos in Amsterdam and Monte Carlo, but those are very tourist friendly so language really wasn't an issue.

I would imagine you'll be okay because there is very little speaking involved to begin with, but hopefully someone will respond with more first-hand knowledge. And literally, good luck!

I'm not really a gambling kind of guy, but...

In London they make you join, show ID and they take a picture of you. Over three visits with a poker junkie mate, I pulled in over £1200 on the roulette table at a place near Edgeware Road. Language is no problem but free drinks are. The cliental were strange...guys with ENORMOUS sacks of chips would sit down and freak everyone one. They make you dress up there...like a sports jacket, decent shirt and proper shoes. But I hear there are lower end casinos.

About three years ago, with another poker junkies and his more restrained wife, I was at some big, fancy casino in Nassau. That was very American oriented. Lots of children, entertainment...you know, good ol' family fun stuff. I pulled about $350.

And lastly, but most interestingly, I hit a casino in Macau almost a year ago--it was a freaking out of this planet experiance...like sipping tea with Martians on Venus. Recommended! English language abilities were OK with the door folk, but most the guests and many of the game vendors (or whatever they are called) were not so proficient. More of a problem were the games...TOTALLY different from what I've seen in Vegas, London or Nassau. Even the slot machines scared me off. At the end of my thirty minute 'been gambling in Macau' experience, I just went with the simplest game...something to do with dice bouncing under a clear plastic half dome, lots of funny symbols, and a board where one placed their bets. I lost about MOP250.

I've been to loads of them, from the fancy-schmancy ones in Monte Carlo to dark holes-in-the-wall in Latvia and Bulgaria.

In Bulgaria it was funny because the sirens and flashing lights would go off when I hit some "big" jackpot, the security guy would come over and officiously examine my win, reset the machine, pay out my jackpot ... which in conversion would be maybe $30.

I won 200 lett in Riga the night before I left there - that was a nice bit of pocket money.

But the best hit was in Berlin at a rinky-dink internet cafe/slot casino, where I hit a big jackpot that was BIG. I won about 1700 euro, cleaned the poor cashier out of all her paper currency, but tipped her and the two guys who sort of coached and helped me navigate this machine 100 euro each so she was happy. So was I.

Oh, and I've been to casinos in Sydney and the Caribbean and even went to the horse track on Penang island, Malaysia. Great times, all of them.

This past April we went in a casino in Macau, it was one of the newer more Vegas-style ones and it was a bizarre experience. I didn't recognize any of the games, the action seemed very serious and intense. It was very smoky, and there weren't many women playing any of the games. The overall vibe wasn't a friendly or inviting one to novices, whereas in Vegas or Reno they seem to go out of their way to try to entice you into sitting down and playing.

In Amsterdam we went in the casino (I think it's the only one in the city) and it was very much a party, party, party atmosphere.

I went to one on the Gold Coast, Queensland and lost a small fortune, I can see why people get sucked into this sort of thing.

Perhaps Lonely Planet should remove the entry in its Aus guide book!

I went to a casino in Cambodia thinking i could be a high roller in a 3rd world country. It was full of international business types and the minimum bet on the tables was $5us.
My room was $3/night so i wasn't exactly up there with them, played a few games tho.

i won 300 euros playing roulette in the grand casino in Monaco...quite possibly the best moment of my life (as an avid casino enthusiast) i have also been to several casinos in australia (melbourne, sydney, cairns)

I think thats it...

Good stuff! Thanks for the stories everyone.

Sounds like it could be an interesting experience...
But I guess all casinos visits are.

Sounds like almost everyone who responded made some money. With that kind of record, the casinos may go broke!!!


Me. I've walked by casinos in 7 different countries, but the idea of walking into a sweaty, artificially dark gambling environment filled with gambling addicts did not excite me., espeically when I didn't have any money to lose.

quote:

Originally posted by Tortuga_traveller:
Sounds like almost everyone who responded made some money. With that kind of record, the casinos may go broke!!!


Me. I've walked by casinos in 7 different countries, but the idea of walking into a sweaty, artificially dark gambling environment filled with gambling addicts did not excite me., espeically when I didn't have any money to lose.

Funny how that works, isn't it? Hehe...are we collectively liars? Or are the LOSERS not posting? Hmmm....any bets?

I personally have only been to, as described above, clean places. The smoky, dark, dirty, dodgey thing scares me too much...stoo the gambling wimp...

Overall, I've lost money in casinos. Somehow describing the dozens or hundreds of times I've walked out, disgusted and $50 or $100 or $300 poorer, didn't seem like interesting reading to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Trentt:
Overall, I've lost money in casinos. Somehow describing the dozens or hundreds of times I've walked out, disgusted and $50 or $100 or $300 poorer, didn't seem like interesting reading to me.

Gawds, please stop. You are right. I should not have pushed that. As a non-gambler (this thread contains half my entire gambling 'career') it seemed harmless.

But, if you have some wild and entertaining "gambling in a strange country" stories then please do enlighten the thread!

I took no offense. I wanted to hasten to point out that despite my tales of glory, overall I'm a loser in casinos and so are 99.9% of casino gamblers.

My tale of the Berlin jackpot is the best one I've got - and that was indeed in a dingy, smoke-filled hole-in-the-wall casino/internet cafe.

Oh, and the time I was about to leave Curacao and walked into a casino during my last hour on the island to lose all but my bus fare home from the airport - only to win $100 on the 3rd or 4th pull on the machine. Not quite as fantastic as 1700 euro, but for someone anticipating a return home with empty pockets, it was pennies from heaven.

quote:

Originally posted by Stoo:
Or are the LOSERS not posting? Hmmm....any bets?

I'll take that bet.

The only time I've gambled outside of my area was at the Las Vegas airport on an unexpected 9hour layover. I was traveling solo, with a dead phone battery, and about $30 total (before food & a couple much needed drinks). If I had had enough cash I would've taken a cab out to the city, but unfortunately, I did not. So, I was left to play the airport slots with my last few dollars and wonderful dream of hitting big and spending a wild evening out in Vegas.
Of course, that didn't happen. But the guy next to me did hit big -- I was thrilled . He gave me a handful of change, which I promptly played and lost.

Oh ya...I went to a somewhat fancy casino in Berlin. I had to rent a jacket in order to gamble, which immediately made me look like an American tourist. I had khaki Cargo pants, a red shirt, and a grey dress jacket on, with Columbia boots on. I'm sure it was quite the scene.

I gravitated to my favorite place in a casino, the blackjack table, hoping the price per hand would magically lower from 10 euros to 5. It didn't, so I finally sat at the table. I won the first 2 hands, and since I may be the wimpiest gambler ever, I decided that if I won one more hand I'd quit then. I proceeded to lose the next 5 hands and walk away. I can't tolerate 10 euros per hand.

quote:

OI had khaki Cargo pants, a red shirt, and a grey dress jacket on, with Columbia boots on.

WHAHAHAHA...rotflmao...that is too funny...